Chasing Time (Seamus Finnigan)

six

'Then what do they say?' I said akwardly.

'You know, about what your dad is, that you are just the same and stuff. But you know, I think they're just saying that because they're relying on what that Weaselbee said, because they never actually met you.'

'You don't then?'

'Ofcourse I don't. And I heard your tirade too, in that pub. You were so right.' She smirked and started flipping through her book.

'Thanks... I suppose,' I said.

She nodded. 'That was a compliment.'

'It was? Okay. Lovely.'

Professor Flitwick entered the classroom and the whole class was quiet at once.

'Today we are going to practice the Mobiliarbus charm,' he started the lesson. After the explanation, we had to split up in pairs and practice together.

Chantry and I practiced together and it was really fun. Chantry had a good sense of humor and we laughed a lot.

After class, we walked to dinner together and sat down next to eachother.

'I knew you were a bit special when I saw you, reading in the common room. I wonder if you ever spend a night not reading,' she said whilst we were eating all the food we had piled on our plates.

I laughed. 'I don't, to be honest. What about you?'

'I write. Stories.'

'Wow. Interesting.'

'It's what I do. Since I was a child, I was amazed by stories and so I began writing myself.'

'That's very cool.' She laughed. 'Do you have a thing you do next to reading?'

'Flying. And thinking.'

Chantry choked as she laughed.

'Thinking? How can that be a thing to do?'

'I just think about all kinds of things. People, places, dreams, stories. Ambitions. I ask myself questions.'

'You ask yourself questions?'

I nodded.

'I mean, you actually think by yourself: what is my favourite book?'

'Not in that way. I ask myself things like: what do I need to do about that? Or: what did I do wrong? Do you see?'

'Yeah. It's kind of interesting. You have strange hobbies.'

'I have strange hobbies?'

She shrugged. 'Thinking is not a normal hobby, is it? Okay, if you would ask one hundred people the question what their hobby is, how many would say thinking? What do you guess?'

'Um... Ten or something?'

'No. Maybe one.'

'Okay.'

'What okay? Get yourself a proper hobby!'

'I'd like to hear about your hobbies,' I said.

'I already told you.'

'And what else? You can't just have one thing you like to do. Tell me some more.'

'Okay. Let me think...' She frowned as she thought about it.

'Cooking.'

'Cooking?'

'Yes. And... listening to music. Soundtracks from movies. It helps for writing, too.'